Brotherly Love
by sas420
Summary: When Gus and Shawn stumble across a dead body, the case hits close to home for one of the detectives
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer:**_ Nope don't own it..would probably spoil the show

"I'm telling you Gus, she was the wicked witch of the west."

"Shawn, Mrs. Worts was not the wicked witch of the west"

"Dude, did you not hear her evil cackles whenever she piled up homework on us."

Gus shook his head, what on earth was he going to do with Shawn. "Shawn, homework is necessary for a student's development."

Shawn looked at him with a mixture of shock and amazement. "Oh my gosh, you had a crush on her!"

Gus' face now held a look of pure horror and annoyance. "Had a crush on her! Shawn are you out of your mind, that woman gave me the creeps."

"Uh but a minute ago you were just picking up for her."

"Yes because she was a good teacher. That's it, nothing else."

"Gus it's perfectly natural to have a crush on your teacher, but above all the hot teachers you had to choose Mrs. Worts." Shawn screwing his face as he said the latter.

"Shawn I did not have a crush on her."

"Whatever floats your boat man." Shawn said smirking. He knew Gus was telling the truth but it was way too good an opportunity to pass up.

All the way to his car Gus was trying to convince his best friend that he did not in any way like their eighth grade teacher, but his pleas were interrupted when he saw Shawn's expression turn serious and walk away without any notice.

"Shawn, where are you going?"

Shawn held up his hand and motioned him to come. He made his way further towards the back of the café, and then he stooped down in the grass. "Gus what does this look like to you?" Gus bent down beside him, his eyes widening just a bit when he saw a speckled trail of red on the fresh grass. When Shawn was sure Gus had seen it he got up to follow the trail.

"Shawn, what are you doing?"

"I'm going to see what this trail leads to," he said a matter-of-factly, "Are you coming?"

"Oh no, I'm not following a trail of blood. A trail of blood never leads to anything good. A trail of blood means that someone or something was injured and whoever or whatever did the injuring might still-" Shawn didn't wait to hear the rest of what Gus was saying and went behind the bushes.

"Shawn!" Gus had no other choice but to follow him. After all, he had to make sure he was okay. "Shawn how could you-" Again Gus was cut off, but this time it was because of what he saw. A dead body.

Shawn took in what he could of the scene before him. The man was stabbed in the chest, close to the heart, by some dull object judging by the amount of blood lost and the size of the wound. Other than that, however, there was no form of injury, no form of a struggle, meaning the victim was probably familiar with the attacker. Shawn looked around him and wondered how was it that a man was murdered behind a café and no one knew. Then again, it was a public holiday and most people were at their homes. He looked back at the body, there was something about the man that wouldn't stop nagging him.

"Hey Gus, does this man look familiar to you?"

"You mean the dead guy?"

"Yes Gus, who else would I be talking about?"

"I don't know," Gus looked back at the body. "No, I've never seen him before. Why?"

""He seems familiar somehow." After racking his brains one more time he decided to push the familiarity issue to the back of his head for a later time and continued, "Well I guess it's time we head to the police station. I feel a vision coming on."

Shawn and Gus made their way to the chief's office. Shawn was ready to go into one of his psychic trances when his eyes fell against a picture haphazardly stuck between paperwork. It was a picture of a family consisting of three brothers and a sister. One of the brothers being the dead guy and the sister being Juliet.


	2. Chapter 2

Shawn stood there in complete shock. He had no idea how Juliet was going to handle this. He had heard her talk about her brothers on more than one occasion and from the sound of it the four of them were pretty close. Just then he hear a voice,

"Shawn, Gus, what are you guys doing here?" It was more a friendly question than a demand. He turned around to find Juliet waiting on an answer. Gus looked on him waiting for Shawn to start his 'vision', but at the time, for once, Shawn was at a loss for words and couldn't make out what exactly he should do with the situation.

Seeing no response from Shawn, Gus started, "We were at a café when Shawn had a-"

"We saw a trail of blood." Gus sent a puzzling look to Shawn. He didn't understand why Shawn was telling the truth. It wasn't like Gus wasn't for telling the truth, it was the fact that Shaw wanted to tell the truth when he was the one who started the psychic charade in the first place.

Juliet turned to look on Shawn, "What?"

"We saw a trail of blood, and when we followed it we found a dead body."

"I'll go get Lassiter. Which café was this?"

"The one on Fifth Street."

Juliet nodded in reply and went to find Lassiter, who was in the chief's office having a heated debate.

When they reached the crime scene Juliet wasn't there as yet because she had to help the chief with something, so Lassiter went asking around to the few people that were there if they knew the man. Shawn and Gus tried to see if they could find any more information on the death of the man that they could use when the investigation furthered. Shawn didn't mention anything about the identity of the man because he was still processing the fact that the guy dead on the ground was Juliet's brother.

"Hey Lassie, just a suggestion."

"What is it Spencer?" said an irate Lassiter. The people at the café were no cooperating and he was in no mood for any of Shawn's smart aleck comments.

"You could always check his wallet for an ID."

"Check his wallet, Spencer don't you think I would've thought of that before."

So did you?"

"Did, I what?"

"Check his wallet."

Lassiter opened his mouth to say something but shut it. He would be setting himself up if he did, so he bent down and searched the man's pocket until he found what he was looking for. Shawn glimpsed the card and saw that he worked at a bookstore near by.

"So we've got a dead guy whose name is-"

"Bill." A soft, shaky, whisper was heard.

"Yeah," Lassiter continued, obviously not picking up on what was happening. "Bill O'ha…." He stopped midway, just realizing whose voice it was that uttered the name.

Everyone turned around to look at Juliet, whose face was now transfixed on her brother's dead body. How could this have happened? She felt herself going weak in the legs, like she would collapse any moment. She wanted to just sit down and cry right then and there, but she had to remain focused. She was there for work and in breaking down she would lose sight of that. Her eyes now moved to where the wound was, wincing slightly when she first saw it. Her hands started to tremble and eyes began to well up.

"Umm, I need to go for just a minute." She didn't wait for a response, nor did anyone reply. Although they didn't know exactly what she was feeling at this point, they fully well understood that she needed her time alone, and time to gather her thoughts.


	3. Chapter 3

"With all due respect chief, I don't understand why it is that I can't be on this case." Juliet said keeping her voice as calm as possible.

"O'Hara this case is too close to home for you. You're emotions will get in the way and you won't focus properly."

"I know very well how to keep my emotions under control."

Karen looked at the Junior Detective in front of her and didn't doubt it at all because even though her voice was calm and her face seemed to conceal her emotions, her hands proved otherwise. They were clenched tightly and shaking. It was obvious that this was a delicate situation that could take any turn. She did not want her on the case. Juliet also needed her time to mourn. The day before when Juliet had just found out it was evident how surprised and hurt she was, but after less than a minute of composing herself she went about like it never happened, burying herself in the case. It was never healthy for a person to do that.

"O'Hara, I said that you will be taken off the case and as the chief, I expect that you will respect my decision."

"But-" the chief gave her a look as if to say that was final. Juliet turned around, ready to leave, realizing she was getting nowhere with this.

"Juliet," Karen said in a softer tone. "If it's any consolation we'll inform you on any updates for the case."

She looked at the chief appreciatively. "Thank you."

Shawn and Gus stood outside of the Assistant Manager's office, of the bookstore where Bill had worked. Apparently he was the manager of the place. From what they were told, Bill and Charlie (the assistant manager) didn't get along very well. It was also a known fact among the staff that he had wanted Bill's position.

"Mr. Spencer, Guster, you can come in now." They were met by a man about six feet tall and well built. He seemed friendly enough, though things were often never as they appeared. "So what brings you two here? Please do sit down."

Shawn sat down and then got up again. He repeated this two more times, earning some quizzical looks from the other two men in the room.

"Dude," he whispered to Gus. "This is even better than the pregnancy chair."

"Shawn, focus."

"Oh yes." He turned his face to look at Charlie, but then turned back to Gus. "Can you start? I've seemed to lost my train of thought."

Gus rolled his eyes. "Good afternoon, sir. My colleague and I work with the Santa Barbara police Department."

While Gus was talking, Shawn looked around the room for anything interesting. There was nothing except a crushed photograph near the garbage bin of the staff, with Bill's face blacked out.

"Oh, is this about Bill's death?" Charlie asked, eye twitching.

'Dude, can you seriously get anymore suspicious?' Thought Shawn.

"Because, the police have already come here, I'm cleared."

"Oh no." Shawn piped up. "You see the thing is I'm the head psychic, and all I really need from you is to tell me about him. Maybe I can get some vibrations concerning his death."

The assistant manager gave him a skeptical look. "The Santa Barbara Police Department has a psychic."

"Yes, and we've solved quite a number of cases for them." Gus piped up.

"So it would be no problem if I called them to check your validity. Would it?"

"Go ahead." They didn't mind because for once they had full access to the case and permission to do whatever they wanted.

Charlie, an incredulous look on his face, hung up a minute later. "Okay then—so what do you want to know?"


	4. Chapter 4

They got nothing from Charlie, except for what they already knew. He had motive. First, if Bill died he would definitely get the position he wanted badly, then second, there was the grudge that he held against him. He was their perfect suspect. Only problem was he had an alibi: his wife. He claimed to be at his house during the time of the murder because his wife had been terribly ill. What was left for Shawn and Gus to do was to check how true his story was.

They also found out, from a cashier, that Bill had a girlfriend, but she was out of town at the time of his death. She still hadn't returned.

Shawn looked at the board in front of him. This time the NUMB3RS thing was not working. Their only lead had been shut down. Charlie's wife was indeed sick and there was no doubt that he was there with her.

"We're getting nowhere on this," he said, clearly frustrated. He wanted to get this case solved as soon as possible. It wasn't just another case he picked up just because it had seemed interesting. This was something more.

"We'll get it solved." Gus looked at his best friend. He had never yet seen him so bent on solving a case before, and was saying something considering he always wanted to solve a case. Just then a buzzing sound was heard.

"Gus your shirt is blinking."

He gave him a confused look. "What?" He looked down and realized someone was calling him.

While Gus was on the phone Shawn ran over the case in his head. He knew it was a new case, and it was understandable that they hadn't reached that far yet, but they were grasping at straws. It was never easy to find anything solid that way.

It didn't make any sense. Everyone close to him had been questioned. Well, except for the girlfriend and Juliet. They didn't really want to say anything to her as of yet because they weren't too sure as to how she would handle it. Plus, what motive would she have had anyway? That only left the girlfriend, but as said before she was out of town. Or was she?

"I think we should check out the girlfriend's story."

"Later," Gus said, coming off the phone. "Right now the chief wants us to meet her at his Bill's apartment; they're questioning the people there."

When they arrived Lassiter and the chief were with an elderly man. He was telling them about an argument that had been heard between Bill and a woman in here. The old man said she was around her mid to late twenties. He didn't know much about her except that it wasn't the first time she visited, so they were probably friends of some sort.

Shawn left Gus with the two detectives, hoping to see if he could find anything that the police had missed in Bill's apartment. He looked on with amazement as he saw the man's apartment. It was cleaner than Gus'. It was like it had been given a good cleaning everyday. Three days was the most it went without being cleaned. Everything was neatly organized, making it easier for Shawn to spot something out of place--a strand of hair on the couch. It was a woman's hair, brunette.

He went into the next room to see if he could find anything else that could match up to the clue that he had just found. There on the kitchen counter were two tickets to see the opera, box office seats at that. Someone did not take just anybody and anyone to the opera, as well as get seats like these. It must have been for his girlfriend, but there was only one problem. The tickets were for that same night, so either Bill had a woman on the side, or his girlfriend was still in town. Shawn went with the latter because of two reasons: (a) how clean his place was and (b) he was Juliet's brother and if he was anything like her, which he probably was, he would never do such a thing.

This was their lead. He was sure of it. The girlfriend and he got into the fight that was overheard, which probably led to the murder.

He made his way back to the detectives. They were now questioning a lady in her thirties, who from the looks of it was enjoying the attention.

"Oh yes, I heard the argument. I mean, who didn't? It was a huge argument."

"Yes, we understand that the argument was loud. What we want to know is if you heard what it was about."

The woman looked at Karen and said curtly, "I do not busy myself in other people's business. Why do you think I would know?"

"Ma'am I'm afraid you're misunderstanding-"

"You don't busy yourself with other people's lives, yet you can tell us his salary, what he ate for breakfast, and the exact time he bought his car." This woman was really getting on Lassie's nerves.

She gave Lassiter a bad look and then focused back on the chief, Gus, and Shawn, who had made his way beside them.

"Well, the argument was about some girl. His girlfriend I think." Okay, so now they knew the fight had not been between him and his girlfriend.

"I also heard them, Bill and that woman, arranging a meeting at some café on Fifth Street." Everyone's eyes shot up at that moment. The lady, realizing she had said something right, continued. "It was a while back though, so I'm not sure when they had the meeting."

Just then someone entered the room. "Chief, you wanted to see me?"

The lady turned around and her eyes widened. "That's the girl."

Everyone looked dumfounded--it was Juliet!


	5. Chapter 5

"You can't seriously think that I--" Juliet said as she followed the chief into her office.

"Oh, on the contrary O'Hara I'm very serious." The chief sighed. Just this morning she had been worried how the case would be affecting her, now she had to worry whether or not she was the killer. Karen couldn't believe any of her detectives would be capable of murder, much less Juliet. Then again, it's always the people you least expect.

"You do realize how bad this looks."

"I know but-"

"You weren't at work during the time of his murder."

"I needed a drive out. The Darcy case was driving me crazy."

"You were in an argument with him a week before he was murdered."

"Because he was still going out with that tramp!" Her voice rose with each word she said. Now she was losing it. "I did not kill him! He was my brother, Chief."

"O'Hara I've seen mothers kill their own children. Believe me, anything is possible, so don't come to me with that. Now I suggest you leave, because we have enough information to press charges."

"Yes chief." With her voice now lowered and defeated she left the room.

Karen couldn't pick up whether or not it was because she was innocent and everything was against her, or if it was that she was guilty and realized she had been discovered. It's not like she wanted to think these things. Juliet was one of the last people that she would expect something like this from, but she had been in the law enforcement business long enough to know you had to always be prepared for the unexpected. She sighed again. She believed her, she really did, but it was too perfect how everything pointed to Juliet. This investigation had to be carried out without any bias, just in case Juliet was in fact the killer, the chief couldn't let her know she believed her.

"I don't believe it." Shawn said, looking at Gus.

"Neither do I, but you have to admit it does sound suspicious."

"Yeah, but this is Juliet."

"And? Weren't you the one who had to take the axe away from her before she killed Alice?"

"That's different. Alice was a crazy psychopath trying to kill her."

"It shows that Juliet is capable of killing someone."

"Yes it does, but it doesn't tell us that she would go around stabbing people in the chest, much less her own brother."

"Think about it Shawn. They were to meet at a café, the same café where he was murdered."

"The lady said, in her words exactly, 'it was a while back', meaning they could've met at any time. All of this is just speculation. No one can prove that she did it."

They were getting nowhere with this. Shawn was trying to convince Gus that she didn't do it, while Gus was trying to get him to be open to the fact that Juliet might've been the killer. Gus shuddered slightly as he thought about it. He didn't want to think that. They both had gotten close enough to know her and she just wasn't capable of it, but the point was they couldn't dismiss the fact that she was their only real suspect so far.

Shawn let out a sigh. He really didn't know what to make of this situation. He believed her but at the same time, like everyone else, he could not just ignore everything that they had found out.

He got up and made up his mind. He was going to find some answers.

"Where are you going?"

"Juliet's." Gus looked at him for an explanation, "I'll ask her whether or not she did it, if she behaves like how the killer would act, then we'll have our answer."

"It's 10 o'clock at night, Shawn. Do you think she would be up?"

"After all that has happened, do you really think she'll be sleeping?"


	6. Chapter 6

Juliet opened her apartment door to find Shawn Spencer. 'What was he doing here?' Oh wait, she was a suspect for a case. Her own brother's death at that, so more than likely he was there to check if she was telling the truth. 'But did he have to come at 10 o'clock?'

"Shawn, what are you doing here?"

"You know, Jules, it's very rude to leave someone waiting at your door." 'He avoided the question. Yep he was here because of the case.'

She motioned him to come inside. It was evident that she had been worried--it was written all over her face. Her eyes looked weary though she tried to prove otherwise, and though there were no tears it was obvious she was hurting. Shawn looked over at the couch where he saw photographs of her family scattered across the floor. There was one with just Bill and her, joking about something. There was a huge smile on her face as she looked up in admiration at her brother

Shawn knew it then. He didn't need to ask, he'd gotten his answer. She was completely innocent.

"Listen, I know you're here because of the case," her voice was trying to stay strong, "but Shawn," she looked up at him with her blue eyes. They had now lost the sparkle they usually had. "I didn't do it."

God, how could he have had any doubts about her? "I believe you."

"Do you, do you really, because believe me Shawn, I know it doesn't look pretty." She was pacing now.

"I mean why else would you come here at 10 o'clock?"

Shawn opened his mouth to say something, but she cut him off.

"Don't say anything, you remember what you told me, lying is unbecoming." She gave him a weak smile as she referred back to the time when they were at the speed dating place. "My own brother, Shawn, how could they think I killed him?" Her voice started to croak as she fought back the tears. "I didn't even fully process that he was dead and then this happened." She took in a deep, shaky breath. Her eyes glistened with the unshed tears. She let out a sniffle and her mouth began to quiver. "Oh my gosh, my parents." She combed back her hair with her two hands.

It dawned on Shawn what she was talking about. They didn't know yet and the duty fell upon Juliet's shoulders to tell them. This was not going to be easy for her. It shouldn't have happened to her in the first place.

She let out a barely audible whisper. "How am I going to tell them?" She looked up at Shawn, tears streaming down her face. "I didn't do it Shawn, I didn't kill him."

"Juliet," he said gently, but it was as if she didn't hear him, stuck in her own world as she repeated the mantra over and over again.

"Juliet," he said again, this time his hand on her shoulders. She looked up at him and he looked straight into her eyes. "I believe you, I know you didn't do it."

His eyes were filled with so much sincerity. Finally, with everything becoming too much for her, she fell into his shirt and started to cry. She wrapped her arms around him, holding onto him tight as if he was her only support. She felt as though without him she'd fall into oblivion.

Shawn didn't know he had it in him to comfort someone, but, then and there, he proved himself wrong, rubbing her back with one hand, holding her with the other, and whispering just the right words in her ears, hoping that when all this crazy mess was over she'd be okay.


	7. Chapter 7

When Juliet awoke she was laying on the couch with a blanket spread over her. She heard something in the kitchen and went to check what it was. What she saw was something she didn't ever think she'd live to see. Shawn was cooking breakfast. Then again, it was just pancakes, but it seriously smelled good. A half grin crept to her face as she took in the sight

Shawn, feeling a pair of eyes on him, turned around and saw Juliet. She looked better now, a bit tired (well, she had been crying the whole night) but better nonetheless.

"How are you feeling?"

Juliet sighed. "Better compared to when this whole thing started." Her voice was soft. She wasn't ready to talk about this, not just yet "So," she said as she made her way over to the stove with smile on her face, wanting to change the tone of the conversation. "What's this?" she peered over into the pan and saw chocolate marshmallow pancakes. She tilted her head slightly to one side and gave him a puzzling look.

"I didn't have chocolate pancakes."

"Yes, and apparently you don't have any other food that can't be put in the microwave or toaster." A playful grin was now making its way onto his face.

"Well…" Juliet started, trying to hide the fact that she couldn't cook. Then her face turned serious as she looked back on the food. "You didn't have to do this." She said, eyes pointing at the food. _'You didn't have to stay either', _she thought to herself.

Shawn shifted awkwardly, then looked at her. "It's comfort food."

Juliet gave him a warm smile and she could feel the tears pricking at the back of her eyes.

"Well then, shall we?"

She tried not to make her voice sound shaky as she said those words. It wasn't what she wanted to say, but if she was having problems saying that, how would she make it through saying thank you for all of this? The thank you would just have to wait, until she felt a bit stronger.

Elaine stepped out of her car and made her way up to room 106 in the apartment near 5th Street. She put on a cup of coffee and waited for the phone to ring. After twenty minutes the waiting paid off.

"Hey honey."

"Hey, so did you leave anything there that might be traced back to you?"

She took a last quick look around. "No." She replied curtly. He had just brushed off her "hey honey" like it was nothing. "Didn't you say you were keeping a close eye on the police investigation anyways? There's no threat to us, right?"

"Yes, but it doesn't mean we can breathe freely, or should I say _you, _seeing as it was you who killed him." It was such a low blow, even for him.

"Let me just remind you," Elaine said, voice now deadly, "that you were the one who wanted him dead. That you were the one who was supposed to kill him but chickened out, and that your picket fence life will come crashing down if I ever spill the beans."

"We both know, _dear_, that you would never do such a thing." His voice seemed to be mocking her. "Because simply," he continued, "you love me too much. Now get some sleep." He laughed, obviously amused at her little threat.

Elaine slammed down the phone. She had enough of this, and if he ever put any of this crap on her again, he was going to get it. Love or no love. She killed because of him, and she could most certainly do it again.


	8. Chapter 8

"Excuse me, excuse me." Buzz turned around as he felt a tiny poke in his back and saw a brunette in her mid to late twenties. Her face was tear-streaked and she looked like a mess.

"Umm…how may I help you?"

"My boyfriend," she paused she wiped her nose. "I just came back and my friends told me he was…dead." Her voice cracked as she said the latter.

Buzz figured more or less this was Bill's girlfriend. After all they didn't have that many dead guys whose girlfriends were out of town, so he led her to the chief's office.

"McNabb What are you doing here?" Although the question was directed to Buzz she was staring straight at the girl.

"Well you see," he started but was interrupted by the lady who was now making her way over to the chief.

"Is it true? Please tell me it isn't true." She looked up at the chief with desperate eyes. If she played her cards right hopefully things would go in her favor.

"I'm sorry but I'm not understanding."

"Bill," was all she said but it was enough to tell them who she was. The chief put a supporting hand on her shoulder but she shrugged it off. "How did this happen? Do you know who killed him?"

"I'm sorry, but we're not allowed to give out any information as yet, but do you know anyone who would want to kill him."

She shook her head. "No he was a great guy, you know." She said in a croaky voice. "This shouldn't have happened to him. I just - " The rest of what she was about to say could not be heard as she flung herself into Lassiter's chest, who was patting her back awkwardly while sending SOS signals out to his colleagues.

He was not the least bit cut out for this touchy, feeling stuff. It was one of the reasons why things with he and his wife never worked out. After a while the late night cases were finally taking a toll on their marriage and he was never the one who was good with words or particularly telling someone he loved them and that she was the air that he breathed, things got from bad to worse until the ended things.

"I assure you that we will find whoever did this." Karen said while gently (or at least tried to be) pulling away the woman from him. "You can have a seat outside while McNabb takes down your contact information, Miss..?"

"Smith." She replied with a sniffle. "Elaine Smith."

"Remind me what we're doing here again." Gus looked over at his best friend who was scanning the crime scene in hopes of finding something they missed out.

"We must've left out something. A killer always leaves a clue behind no matter how small it is." It was something his father had taught him, in fact he was the one who told him to go and check over the area, even though he had already done that.

Shawn moved further away from the scene and something glistening beneath a pile of leaves caught his eye. It was a blood stained letter opener.

"Gus." He called out. "I think we just found our clue."

"Is it big."

"You remember that literature book we got to read in 9th grade, remember how big it was?"

"That book was wasn't big." Gus said, his voice getting closer to where Shawn was.

"It was five inches thick."

"Shawn you're exaggerating. It was only four and half inches." This, of course, earned an eye roll from Shawn.

"Well in any case it's bigger than that."

"What is it?" asked Gus who was now in front of Shawn.

"I think we found ourselves a murder weapon."

Five hours later found Shawn, Gus, Lassiter and the chief in her office staring at the phone. They had given forensics the letter opener and were awaiting the call they should've gotten an hour ago.

"Maybe it's going to ring now."

"You said that five minutes ago Spencer, and the five minutes before that and the-"

"Yeah but this time I can feel it. The spirits are sending me some pretty good vibes."

"Remind me again why is it that we allowed him to be here?" his question was directed to the Chief but it was Shawn who answered.

"Because as much as you'd hate to admit it, I'm rubbing off on you Lassie and you'd miss me if I weren't here."

Karen looked on the two of them and fought back the grin that was making its way to her face. If there was anything Shawn loved doing it was getting under Lassiter's skin.

Lassie-Face opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by the phone which the Chief answered. Why was he being interrupted so many times?

When she got off, she looked at the three men in front of her.

"That was forensics."

Shawn let out an "I told you so," to Lassiter who was completely annoyed at the fact that the fake psychic was right.

"The blood on the letter opener was Bill's." The Chief continued, "so it was in fact the murder weapon, and the fingerprints matched Charlie's."


	9. Chapter 9

"He didn't do it. I don't care what you say, he didn't do it. You have his alibi for Christ's sake!" the woman said those words with so much 'til the point that it was blatantly clear she'd defend him to death.

Shawn and Gus stood in the living room of Charlie's house. They went back to find out how exactly was he linked to the case, since it was quite obvious he was.

"We understand that Miss." Gus said trying to calm her down. "We were just asking if you have any idea how you're husband could've been linked to the murder."

"Wasn't he cleared already?" Her tone was abrupt and cut. She really had had enough of this. It was crap, that's what it was. Her husband was completely innocent. He wasn't capable of murder, maybe other things, things she preferred forgotten but not that, never murder.

"Mrs. Buckner your husband's letter opener was found to be the murder weapon."

A look of sheer horror and shock leapt to her face this could not be happening. It was all _her _fault she was sure of it. She contemplated whether or not she should tell the psychic and his colleague about it. If she told them her husband would be free, but on the other hand if word got around what her husband was doing, his image would be tainted.

"Are you sure that it was my husband's letter opener?"

"It had his fingerprints on it, plus there's one identical to it on the kitchen table."

She looked on Shawn flabbergasted. How could he have known that? They had just whisked past the kitchen. There was no way he could've seen that.

"I know this looks bad, but he didn't do it. Did you ever think of the possibility that he was being framed?"

"Do you know who might've done it?" Gus asked

"Well, no." She shifted awkwardly.

She obviously knew something but wasn't saying.

"I sense that you know more on this than you're letting on."

"Well my husband you see, he was…he was having an affair…I don't know maybe he cut things off with her and--"

Gus cut her off, "Why didn't you say something from the start?"

"I…I don't know okay I just wanted him to come home! All I can say he didn't do it's…It's that woman whoever she is that did it."

"So you don't know who it was?"

"No! Now can you please leave? You have your information."

"Damn!" Shawn cursed underneath his breath as he shook the doorknob to Charlie's office. "It's locked."

"Maybe we can get in from the outside."

"I can't believe you Gus."

"What?" He asked clearly oblivious to what Shawn was talking about.

"You dismissed my 'let's enter from outside plan' and then now you take it up."

"Shawn you did no have a 'let's enter from the outside plan' you had a 'let's shimmy our way through the vents plan' which was completely unnecessary."

"Ye but it was funner."

"There's no such word as funner Shawn."

"Hey guys need any help?"

Shawn turned around. "Juliet what are you--"

"Charlie's a suspect to the case right?

"How did you find out about that?"

"I work at the SBPD don't I?

"Don't you know you should never answer a question with another question?"

"Where did it say that?"

"You're not supposed to be--"

"If I managed to convince the Chief that I'm okay with this, can't you believe me too?"

Shawn looked over to Gus hoping to get some help from him, but all he got was an 'you're on your own' look from him.

She looked at him her eyes somewhat pleading with his to let her in on this. She had to do this. She wasn't one to wait a sit around, and now when her brother was dead, they all expected her to just sit an wait she couldn't do that.

"Alright."

A slight smile crept to her face as she made her way to the door. She took out a hair pin and started fumbling with the lock, pretty soon a clicking noise was heard.

Shawn raised his eyebrows, "You can pick locks."

"Among other things."

As they entered the office Juliet let out a small gasp and for good reason too. Sitting on his chair, was Charlie in a blood soaked shirt.

well that was it ... I have about 2 more chapters left of it...whoever's readin ;)


	10. Chapter 10

"Well I guess this means the secret lover theory is right?" Juliet gave Gus a puzzled look and he began to explain, while Shawn scoped out the room. "We think that whoever ki--" He paused for a second not exactly sure how he was supposed to put it.

"It's okay Gus. You think that the person who killed my brother was who?"

"Whomever Charlie was having an affair with."

"I don't understand."

While Gus continued to explain, Shawn noticed a few stuff. The victim had been killed the same way, wound to the chest of same size and shape. There was no sign of forced entry and since the office was on a second floor (and you couldn't exactly scale the walls of this building) the killer was someone Charlie knew and the door was locked after he let her in. He knew it was a she by the imprint the heel left on the carpet.

"I'm sensing," he put his hand to his temple, "she was here. The spirits are a little fuzzy on the details but she definitely was here."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"How is it that no one could've seen if anyone entered the office?" Karen asked to no one in particular as she got up from her pregnancy chair. Even though she was no longer pregnant it did help with her backaches so she decided to keep it.

Someone came in and broke the attention of the official and unofficial detectives in the room.

"What are you doing here?"

Elaine looked taken aback at Juliet's curt question, even though she knew very well that the Junior didn't trust her.

"Well _Detective, _my boyfriend is dead, don't you expect that I'd be here." She said it so acidly sweet that it was quite evident of the bad blood between the two.

"Miss Smith could you please wait outside until we're through." Karen said stopping things before it got ugly. They needed to get down to business.

So far what they knew was that the two men, Bill and Charlie were killed by the same person. Well it was really just speculation, but they had been murdered the same way and by the same weapon.

"Are you supposed to be looking at that." Lassiter asked pointedly.

Elaine jumped at the voice. She didn't think anyone would've seen her. "Oh I thought this was Bill's file." She paused for a moment, then added with a frown "I guess I was mistaken."

"You're not supposed to be even looking at his file."

Elaine flashed Juliet an annoyed look. "Well I'm sorry, I just don't like being in the dark about these things."

Juliet scoffed, but it was only half heard since Elaine had cut her off. "Oh my God!" she gasped. "He was killed the same way Bill was….is that common."

A light bulb went off in Shawn's head as he listened in but didn't say anything until he was sure.

"So do you guys think it's the same person who killed Charlie, might've killed-" Her voice broke. "Bill."

It passed by Karen's mind a couple of times why it was that Elaine was so curious, but she dismissed the thought. She'd been in the business long enough to know that some people were usually this inquisitive when it came to the death of a loved one.

"Yes we do." A short and simple answer should satisfy her.

"Why?" Or not.

The chief sighed, she could always dismiss her but people had a way of being so persistent that they'd get the information one way or another.

"The way in which they were killed were very similar, including the use of the murder weapon.;

"You mean the letter opener." She said as she clutched her bag.

"Yes. How did you know that." Lassiter asked as his eyes narrowed in on her.

"I saw it on the file. You know I think I should just leave, make you guys solve this case."

"Aaargh!!" Shaw flung himself at the door. "The spirits they're trying to tell me something."

"Spencer--" but Shawn had cut off whatever Lassie was going to say.

"aah." He said this time in a higher pitch, clutching his chest, staggering while making his over to Elaine. "The spirits they're trying to tell me something….It's very strong." He opened one eye and glimpsed the contens in her bag." The secret lover is…here."

All eyes turned on Elaine.

"You can't seriously believe this nut job."

"Well, Ms. Smith, this nut job has solved over 18 cases for the SPBPD."

"Why thank you chief…I think."

"This ridiculous. I'm out of here."

She got up to leave but Juliet held her back, "You're not going anywhere," and shoved her on the seat.

"Check the bag. The murder weapon is there."

"You can't do that! It's an invasion of privacy." However it was all said in vain as Juliet had already took the bag and found the letter opener. "I don't know how reached there." She said shaking her head furiously. "I must've been framed."

"Yeah we've being hearing a lot of that lately." The response had come from Lassiter this time.

"You don't understand." She said bursting into tears. This time, however, they were genuine. "I loved him. I killed Bill for him." Juliet resisted the urge to punch her and let her continue. "Yet he didn't care. He didn't appreciate me. I warned him of the consequences but he never took me seriously." Pain and anger were written all over her face. "I couldn't take it anymore. I really loved him. He just never took it seriously. He never loved me." She said the latter softly letting it sink in.


	11. Epilogue

2 Weeks Later

Shawn sat in the Psych Office reviewing another case that had come up for them. Gus wasn't there as yet, he was _spending more time with his other job. His real job. _Really now the job at the psych office wasn't real. Anyways it didn't matter because Shawn would always find a way to reel him in and of lately he had been less reluctant to assist.

"Hey."

Shawn grinned playfully as he looked up. "Hey Jules. Two weeks without me must've been horrible."

Juliet had left for two weeks and went to Miami, where they had her brother's funeral. They did talk a few times over the phone though.

She let a small smile escape her lips and rolled her eyes at his comment.

"I'm sensing there's something you want to share with me." He said after realizing she was hiding something behind her back.

"As a matter of fact there is."

"Really. "

"You want to split a pineapple." She brought the pineapple from around her back.

Shawn smiled. "Well you know Jules, I'm never one to turn down pineapple especially one brought by someone who just came from the airport and hasn't went home as yet."

Juliet softly smiled and shook her head. "I still don't know how you do that."

Shawn lightly tapped his temple saying that he was psychic. The part that Juliet found weird was that she was actually beginning to believe him on it, even as over the top his visions were, the thing is he was always right.

"Well I had some unfinished business."

Shawn looked at her puzzled.

Her voice was softer and serious now. "Thank you…for everything."

"Jules it was no--"

"Don't say it was nothing because you didn't have to stay, you didn't have to be there for me…but you were." She was thankful she was composed right now and not tearing up.

"You needed someone."

"And I really appreciate that you were the one who was there."

She changed the tone of the conversation again to the lighter tone, "Anyways I don't think that pineapple is doing anyone any good just sitting there on the desk," to which Shawn only laughed.

there it was hope u enjoyed it ;)


End file.
